A Different Path
by dorahatesexploring
Summary: What if Hagrid had not taken Harry to Privet Drive after his parents' death? What if instead it had been Sirius who had reached the house first and taken Harry, the two of them disappearing from society for sixteen years only to reappear in the Leaky Cauldron one hot day in August. Rated M for language, violence, and scenes of a sexual nature.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The weather was bitter, of course. It had to be bitter in a situation like this, otherwise it would seem to mock the young man as he stood before the smoking ruin of the house before him, limbs shaking and mind screaming in grief and fear. The young man stood frozen, his head craned to take in the sight of it. He wanted to go inside, to turn over every piece of rubble and find the people he loved inside, but his feet seemed to have disconnected and kept him frozen, staring with a horror that he'd never felt before.

In the end, what moved him was the last sound he expected to hear. An infant's wail. He turned his head a little, his hands slowly easing out of their clenched fists, and his left foot lifted from the ground to step forward. His right foot followed, and then he was striding across the damp grass, reaching out towards the front door even as it swung inwards with the breeze.

The ground floor was fairly intact still, and as he pushed the door further open he had to light his wand to see in the pitch-dark hallway. Instantly, the light fell upon the prone form on the floor, and he felt his heart spasm beneath his ribs. His bending down to check for a pulse in his best friend's neck was arbitrary, a final clutching of straws, as after three years fighting a war he knew the effects of the Killing Curse upon sight. James Potter was dead.

But the baby's cry, Harry's cry, that was still coming from above him. The staircase ahead looked very unsteady, but he ignored the creaking and cracking as he hurried up it two at a time. The blow of Lily's body, sprawled across the floor of the nursery, struck him so hard it might've been physical. Her eyes stared up at him, unseeing yet still full of beautiful expression.

Harry's cries had subsided a little at the sight of him, he now only choked an uncertain sob, staring up at him with wide, questioning eyes that matched the sightless ones of his mother. Sirius Black stepped forward, and lifted him from the crib. He was warm, and wriggling, and _alive_.

A cut on his forehead, a jagged lightning bolt, was bleeding a little yet apart from that he was unhurt. Sirius stared at him in disbelief. Voldemort had been here, he'd killed Lily and James, why had he left a little boy? It wasn't in Voldemort's style to be merciful.

The sound of footsteps crunching over the glass and rubble outside jogged Sirius a little, and he turned on his heel. Harry nestled against him, whining a little as Sirius moved to look out of the smashed frame of the window. A gigantic figure was stood in the front garden below, looking up at the ruined house in much the same way as he had before. It was Hagrid.

Sirius stepped back from the window, concealing himself in the shadows of the room as his mind raced. It was clear that Dumbledore had sent Hagrid - why would the man come of his own accord? He wasn't close enough to the Potters to arrive for a visit at three-twenty-six in the morning. Dumbledore knew something had happened, and had presumably sent Hagrid to bring Harry to him. Instinctively, Sirius held the boy closer against him, and his confused, terrified mind latched onto one thing: whatever Dumbledore wanted with Harry, it was not in his best interests. Sirius knew Dumbledore, and respected him, and yet he understood that the man always had an ulterior motive. If he wanted Harry, especially after an incident like this, it would not be to benefit the boy.

In that moment, Sirius understood what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, he took one last glance out of the window, saw Hagrid begin to stride across the lawn towards the house, and then as he clutched Harry tight against his chest he turned on his heel, and Disapparated from the house.


	2. The Boy Who Disappeared

The Boy Who Disappeared

The motorbike crashed to the ground with considerable force, swinging clumsily to a stop with a screech of brakes that made the two figures stood before it on the street wince and look about nervously. It felt loud enough to wake the whole street, but the upper windows of the surrounding houses in Privet Drive stayed dark, and the scene quickly returned to a hushed quiet.

'Really, Hagrid,' admonished the tall, stern witch in square spectacles, who strode towards the motorcycle as the gigantic man clambered off it. 'This is a Muggle area! What would it be if the very day You-Know-Who was defeated, the International Statute of Secrecy was broken? And by us, too?'

'I'm sorry Professor,' croaked the man, and both McGonagall and Dumbledore, who was still stood a little further back, were taken back by the fact that he seemed to be on the edge of tears.

'Hagrid, what is it?' asked Dumbledore, stepping forward now as well. The small patch of Hagrid's face that was visible was bright red, and they were shocked to see actual tears welling up in his eyes. 'You do have Harry, don't you?'

'No!' wailed Hagrid, waving his dustbin-lid sized hands in the air as if to reiterate the fact that the baby was missing. 'I - I went to th'house an' all, went as soon as yer told me, di'n't even stop ter get me scarf, on'y when I got there he were gone! Vanished!'

'Dumbledore, you don't suppose … one of You-Know-Who's followers could've…' said McGonagall, who had gone quite white.

'No,' said Dumbledore, now frowning down the street. 'The magical residue from the scene of Lily and James' death, and the remains of the broken protective enchantments, would be too strong. No Dark witch or wizard will be able to enter that house for a very long time now. Hagrid, tell us exactly what you found in the house.'

Hagrid took a deep, shuddering breath, running a hand over his eyes. 'W-Well, I got ter the house, and it were all destroyed an' all, so I went in right careful like. I heard something crack when I arrived, so I wanted to get in there before the firs' floor collapsed too. It weren't nice. J-James were there, right by the door, an' I knew instantly that he was … that he was … anyway, I knew I had ter keep going. I wen' up the stairs, an' I saw Lily, and that were right painful it were. I had to stop for a moment, get my bearings y'know, and that's when I noticed that Harry weren't there.'

'So there was no body?' asked Dumbledore quickly. Hagrid shook his head.

'No. And I nearly collapsed the rest of th'house checking! His blanket were gone from the bed, and he were gone, like someone took 'im. So I wen' back outside th'house, and then I found this motorbike. It looked a bit familiar, y'know, but there were no one about an' I figured as it were a magic bike it would be owned by someone we knew, so it would be alrigh' if I borrowed it to get ter you quickly. Figured someone had prob'ly left it there after visitin' Lily and James before they … before they …' He gasped again, and fell silent. Dumbledore moved forward to look at the motorbike.

'Albus - that's Sirius Black's motorbike,' said McGonagall. 'You don't suppose _he_ took Harry? It makes sense, after all, as he's the boy's godfather, he might've seen it as his right. But then why wouldn't he take him away on the motorbike?'

'He may have not been able to,' said Dumbledore, still looking at the bike. 'If he had to leave quickly, such as to avoid being seen by Hagrid here, he would've Disapparated instead.'

'Yer don' mean - that crack I heard when I arrived - that were Sirius?' cried Hagrid. 'Why wouldn't he want me ter see him?'

'He probably guessed why you were at the house. He always was clever like that. And he would be feeling very protective of Harry, after everything that happened,' said Dumbledore. 'Especially as, I think, he was the Potters' Secret Keeper.'

'No!' gasped McGonagall. 'But he can't have betrayed them? Albus, I can't believe it, I won't believe it!'

'It does seem unthinkable,' mused Dumbledore. 'Of course, as we've already established, no supporter of Voldemort could have entered the house, so we must rule out the idea that he gave them up intentionally. Still, he must be brought in for questioning.'

'And he has stolen perhaps the most famous child in the Wizarding World,' said McGonagall.

'Stolen? I think that Sirius would argue that, as godfather, he has custody rights. It would be an issue for the Ministry to sort out, and they do often like to side with those of old wizarding families, especially when the opposition are Muggles,' said Dumbledore.

'And when it's a Muggle family like this one,' said McGonagall, looking up at the house behind them with an expression of distaste. 'Oh, but Albus, we _must_ find Harry!'

'I agree. So I must ask you, Minerva, to stay up a little later in this long night, and go to the Ministry. As defunct as the institution increasingly seems to be, they must be alerted of this and begin a search as soon as possible. If he has any sense, Sirius Black will get out of the country very quickly, and go far away from here. Hagrid, you may return to Hogwarts. Thank you for your service here.

'Di'n't do much,' mumbled Hagrid, now rather morose.

'What will you do, Albus?' asked McGonagall.

'I think it is time for me to go and inspect the Potter house in Godric's Hollow,' said Dumbledore, looking up at the stars. 'The Dog Star shines high and bright tonight.

* * *

The flat was cramped and dingy, and unmistakably Muggle. Plates and dishes were piled in the sink instead of washed magically, lights flickered on an old television in the corner, and the fridge hummed quietly to itself in the kitchen. In fact, there was no sign that magic had ever touched this place, until the quiet was broken by a sharp _crack_ , and a figure appeared in the middle of the sitting room.

The man looked around for a moment, and then whispered: 'Sirius?'

Another pause, and then a second figure appeared from the kitchen, holding a carton of milk and a bundle in his arms. 'Remus. I was trying to feed Harry.'

'Sirius, the Muggles will notice if someone has used their milk,' admonished Remus, stepping carefully over a stack of greasy pizza boxes and coming over.

'Really? I didn't think they were observant enough for that. I'll refill it once I'm done.'

Remus caught his friend's arm. 'Sirius, stop. Look at me.' Sirius Black slowly raised his eyes to meet those of his last remaining true friend. They stared at each other in the darkness. Although hardly more than children, their eyes gave them the expressions of much older men. 'It's true, isn't it?'

Sirius nodded. 'They're gone, Remus. He finally got to them.'

Remus took a deep, shuddering breath, holding a hand over his eyes for a moment as he tried to calm himself. 'And You-Know-Who is gone as well? Defeated by only Harry? How?'

'I don't know,' said Sirius, looking back down at the bundle in his arms. Harry was sleeping now. He quietly set the bottle down on the kitchen counter, and with one finger brushed the cut on Harry's forehead. It had stopped bleeding now, but still appeared raw and angry. 'But I know that Dumbledore wants him. It's not really surprising that he does, after last night, but it can't be good for Harry. I mean, he wanted to examine James' Invisibility Cloak because he thought it was powerful - what will he do with Harry?'

'Sirius, you're jumping to conclusions. Maybe Dumbledore just wanted to protect Harry,' said Remus. 'He has his best interests at heart.'

'I'm not so sure,' muttered Sirius. 'Anyway, I'm godfather. Much of the Magical community will agree that I should have custody of him, not some Muggle family.'

'Why then did you ask me to come here, to some Muggle flat in Brixton, in the dead of night? We're acting like very guilty suspects, Sirius,' whispered Remus.

'Because I need you to look after Harry while I go find Pettigrew,' said Sirius.

'Wormtail? Why do you…'

'Because Pettigrew was Lily and James' Secret Keeper,' said Sirius. Remus stared at him.

'I thought it was …'

'Me? That's what we had everyone believe. I am the more likely choice, after all. No, we had everyone believe it was me, and then it was in fact Pettigrew.'

'So it was Peter who betrayed them,' whispered Remus, more to himself than to Sirius.

'Instead of me?'

'Sirius, I'd never think you could betray Lily and James to You-Know-Who, I just thought it may've been tortured out of you, or gained through Legilimency, and that you couldn't bear to tell me yet. But if it was Peter … do you think he betrayed them on purpose?'

Sirius shrugged. 'I don't know. But I'm going to track down the little rat and force the information out of him. However it happened, he has their blood on his scratchy little hands.'

Remus was shocked by the venom in his voice. 'Sirius, wait. You can't just go blundering off after Peter. _Think_ about it! Peter will know you're coming for him now, and if he has gone Dark he won't be sitting around waiting for you to come and attack him. You'll likely be walking straight into a trap - and remember, everyone thinks that you've been the Secret Keeper all this time, that the enchantment was somehow broken due to you! If you now attack Pettigrew, another supposed pillar of the Order of the Phoenix, how is it going to look?'

'But Remus, Remus if it was him, if he caused their deaths, he needs to die!' snapped Sirius.

'He needs to be brought to justice,' said Remus in a surprisingly steady voice. 'And he will be. The Order of the Phoenix has won now. I may not have much influence, what with my … condition, but we have friends who do. Emmeline Vance, Amelia Bones, Kingsley Shacklebolt - all rising stars in the Ministry, and they'll listen. We can put a case together against Wormtail, it'll come quite easily, and then he'll be brought to justice. But you have to disappear.'

'What?'

'Harry shouldn't be in the public eye right now, and you're probably right that he shouldn't be near Dumbledore, either. The man is a genius, but he has a habit of hurting things that he touches. I'm sure that Lily and James' Will will have given you custody, anyway, so there is nothing legal stopping you from just leaving the country with him. Go to Europe, or Asia maybe, and lie low for a while with Harry.'

'So we're going to have to part ways?' asked Sirius.

'For a while, yes,' replied Remus.

The two men stared at each other for a while, and then at the same instant moved together to kiss each other. It was rough, and fierce, each of them grabbing the other's hair and clothes as they fought not to have to be parted, and Remus wasn't sure if the dampness on his cheeks came from his eyes or Sirius'. But finally they had to step apart, and let go. Sirius touched Remus' cheek for a moment, and then held Harry tighter in his arms as he turned on his heel to Disapparate.

* * *

'Kingsley!'

The young Auror turned at the shout, stepping out of his cubicle. The muffled sounds of a nearby party could be heard, but the expansive room of Auror cubicles had a hushed quality to it. He enjoyed the peace, the meditative satisfaction of looking over the myriad of maps, parchment notes, photographs and diagrams that covered the walls of his cubicle, and knowing that it was over.

He was surprised to find Remus Lupin hurrying towards him. The younger man was not a frequent visitor to the Ministry. But he'd always liked him, as the antics of the Marauders had greatly entertained him during his final years at Hogwarts, and he greeted Lupin warmly.

'Remus! I'm terribly sorry for your loss. But what brings you here at this late hour? Can the issue not wait until morning?'

Remus shook his head. Strands of grey were already visible amongst his mousy brown locks. 'No, Kingsley. It concerns the murder of Lily and James. I know who betrayed them.'

'Betrayed them? I thought You-Know-Who must've just finally broken through the enchantments, I can't imagine that anyone would actively betray the _Potters_ of all people.'

'There was a Fidelius Charm on the house,' said Remus quickly. 'And Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper.'

'Pettigrew? But surely Sirius Black would be their first choice for Secret Keeper?'

'He was! And so the Potters decided it would be safer to tell people that it was Sirius, and for it to actually be Pettigrew! To mislead You-Know-Who!'

Kingsley frowned at him. 'Remus, this is very serious. Do you have any evidence that it was Pettigrew, and not Sirius, who was the Secret Keeper? Is it documented? Because to much of the Magical community the logical answer will be that Sirius betrayed Lily and James…'

'How can they believe that?' cried Remus. 'Look!' His hand dived into his pocket, and he pulled out a photograph. It looked fairly new, only the corners were a little battered from being carried around in Remus' pocket. On the back a date had been written in a neat, looping script. It showed Sirius and James stood in a sunlit kitchen with a baby Harry. 'This was taken a week ago - look, Lily wrote it on the back. I just thought of it on my way here; you can see Sirius' left forearm. Look!'

Kingsley took the photograph, and spotted it instantly. 'No Dark Mark.'

'Right! And we know that a Dark Mark can't be hidden by any charm or glamour spell, that it overrides all of that! Surely if Sirius had turned and betrayed the Potters intentionally, he would have a Dark Mark?'

'It's only circumstantial evidence, Remus.'

'I know! But more evidence will come out, I know it, especially if we bring Pettigrew into questioning. But I need your help. I have no influence, especially not in the Ministry. But you do! Please, will you help me?'

Kingsley stared at the harried, wild-eyed young man, and nodded. 'I will help you, Remus. I believe what you're saying is true.'

'Thank you!' gasped Remus. 'Thank you!'

* * *

It had been an intense few days for Albus Dumbledore, as he saw first-hand the Bludger-attack of events that followed the deaths of Lily and James Potter. First, became clear that Sirius Black had fled the country with Harry Potter. Then it was announced - between a few trusted individuals - that it was Peter Pettigrew and not Sirius Black who was the prime suspect for causing the deaths of the Potters. He then heard that several Aurors had been sent to bring Pettigrew to the Ministry for questioning, only when they arrived at his house he somehow escaped them, but they had captured his wand and were searching his house. And then, finally and worst of all, the news broke that a desperate party of Death Eaters had broken into the house of the Longbottoms, and tortured them to horrific lengths for information about the whereabouts of Lord Voldemort.

Dumbledore sat with his fingers interlaced before him on his desk, listening to Minerva McGonagall as she strode back and forth before him, railing against the most recent event. 'The Longbottoms! And after we all thought that we were finally safe, the _Longbottoms_ get attacked!'

'Alice and Frank have not died, Minerva, Dawlish and the others reached the house in time to prevent that.'

'Oh I know they're not _dead_ , but I've heard what they were like when they were found! You don't bounce back from an ordeal like that, I'd be surprised if they recovered at all! _Hours_ of the Cruciatus Curse, Albus, it doesn't bear thinking about!'

'I know, Minerva, I know. It is a great tragedy. But we must not let ourselves dwell on this darkness, we must keep our chins up and continue. There is more to be done,' he said in a quietly firm voice.

'Of course there is, Albus, of course. I mean, Harry Potter for one has disappeared without a trace. Did you find anything in the Potter house?'

'No more than what Hagrid reported, really. A blanket is gone, and him. There is a heavy residue of old magic, some Dark, some not. I cannot conclude anything from it in this short amount of time, really, beyond the fact that Voldemort cast the Killing Curse at Harry, and somehow Harry survived. Perhaps we will never know the answer to this mystery.'

'And is there nothing we can do to get him back? I mean, we can be quite certain that it is Sirius Black who has taken him!'

'I am afraid not, Minerva. It is becoming increasingly clear that it was Pettigrew, and not Black, who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort. And as the Potters' Will has decreed that Sirius should have primary custody of Harry, there is nothing legal that can force him to bring Harry back, or allow a team of Aurors to hunt them down.'

'So we can do nothing?'

'In this instance, I am afraid it seems that Harry Potter has slipped through our clutches. We must only hope that Sirius Black is up to the task ahead of him.'


End file.
